Mercari
Tokyo-listed company behind the Mercari consumer-to-consumer marketplace in Japan and the United States. Its group also runs the Merpay payment service, the Mercoin crypto business and the Kashima Antlers soccer club.
Industry: Online marketplace | Location: Tokyo, Japan | Founded: 2013
About Mercari
Mercari, Inc. operates Mercari, a consumer-to-consumer marketplace app on which people buy and sell items from their smartphones. The company is headquartered at Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and its company profile gives 1 February 2013 as its founding date. Its group also includes Merpay, a mobile payment service, Mercoin, which focuses on cryptoassets and other digital assets, Mercari US, and the professional soccer club Kashima Antlers F.C. Its shares trade in Tokyo under code 4385, and it reports under IFRS for a fiscal year ending 30 June.
Shintaro Yamada founded Mercari and is Director, Representative Executive Officer and chief executive. He previously founded Unoh, which he sold to Zynga in 2010. Sayaka Eda, a former Goldman Sachs Japan managing director, has been chief financial officer since 2021. Fumiaki Koizumi joined in 2013 and has led Kashima Antlers since 2019. Wikipedia says the app launched in Japan in July 2013 and entered the US in September 2014.
Mercari states that its marketplace is used by about 24 million people monthly, and its US marketplace by 4.2 million. The Mercari Global App, which lets overseas buyers purchase from Japanese sellers, launched in Taiwan and Hong Kong and then in the United States on 17 June 2026. Mercari says it aims to reach more than 50 countries and regions by 2028. It lists reuse partnerships with Suruga-ya and ECOMMIT and a partnership with Coincheck.
In 2026 Mercari was selected twice for GENIAC, a generative AI programme led by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and NEDO: in June for a search and recommendation model and in September for robotics models to automate item inspection and listing. The company says it has committed to becoming AI-native. On 1 June 2026 it named chief technology officer Shunya Kimura chief human resources officer and chief AI officer, and from 1 July 2026 Jeff LeBeau became chief executive of Mercari US.
Mercari signed a sustainability-linked loan agreement with Mizuho Bank in March 2025, and joined the FIDO Alliance board in December 2023.
Leadership
- Shintaro Yamada, Founder; Director, Representative Executive Officer and CEO
- Sayaka Eda, Director, Executive Officer, Senior Vice President of Corporate and Chief Financial Officer
- Fumiaki Koizumi, Director; President and CEO, Kashima Antlers F.C.
- Masato Yamamoto, Executive Officer, Senior Vice President of Japan Business
- Shuji Kawano, Executive Officer, Senior Vice President of Management Strategy
- Shunya Kimura, Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief AI Officer
- Takeshi Nagasawa, Vice President; CEO (Fintech), Head of MVNO; CEO of Merpay, Inc.
- Shunsuke Sako, Vice President, CEO Marketplace